Boca Raton

Gold Coast

Florida

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Boca Raton Travel Guide

Turtle hatchling

Probably as close to Utopia as one can get, the Boca Raton
Resort and Club, on Florida's Gold Coast, is America's most
exclusive premier holiday resort, set on 144 hectares (356 acres)
in the expensive city of Boca Raton. Luxury all the way is the
expected standard in this resort community, where the entertainment
centres on leisure sports, fine dining and upmarket shopping for
holidaymakers. There are no glitzy discotheques, fast-food outlets
or neon lights in this resort. Instead the amenities run to fitness
centres, 18-hole golf courses, a marina, beauty salons, six
swimming pools, a private beach and a reading room.

The resort contains a total of 1,041 luxury suites and villas to
house its affluent guests. The main building, the pink palatial
'Cloister', was built in 1926 by Addison Mizner and is an
architectural curiosity typical of his eccentric character, with
its Moorish and Gothic influences, hidden gardens, archways,
intricate mosaics and fountains. The rest of the city of Boca Raton
also echoes Mizner's taste and revels in a lush, plush lifestyle.
The Old Floresta Historic District is a small residential area full
of Mizner-designed homes, and the old town hall, now the
headquarters of the Boca Raton Historical Society, reflects his
Mediterranean Revival style. Downtown the pretty pink shopping and
entertainment complex is unmistakably Mizner too.

A great reason to venture into downtown Boca Raton while on
holiday is to see and be seen in the precincts of Mizner Park, one
of the world's most exclusive shopping centres. Characteristically
Spanish/Gothic and painted Mizner's ubiquitous pink, the centre is
a worthy sight even without its 45 speciality shops and half-dozen
superb restaurants. Luxury cars parked outside give an indication
of the status of most of the shoppers who drift from shop to shop
beside manicured gardens in this outdoor mall on Federal Highway.
South of Glades Road is Boca Raton's Town Center Mall, home of
seven major department stores including Bloomingdale's and Saks
Fifth Avenue. Interspersed are dozens of speciality shops, a huge
food court and numerous restaurants.

Boca Raton is a gourmet's paradise, with hundreds of restaurants
both within the resort complex and downtown offering an
extraordinary range of dining options and international influences.
The city's discerning residents and visitors ensure that it is well
nigh impossible for a bad restaurant to survive here, so culinary
excellence and quality service are virtually guaranteed. One of the
best restaurants is La Vieille Maison, which has been serving
French cuisine in Boca for over 25 years. Fine dining in Boca and
environs is expensive, but there are more economic options for
those on a budget in the food court at the Town Center Mall, or at
adjacent Delray Beach where, for example, Lucille's BBQ on Linton
Boulevard serves up generous platters of traditional favourites at
reasonable prices.

Nightlife in Boca Raton is not a synonym for partying or disco
dancing. Evening activity centres around leisurely dining or
sipping cocktails in stylish bars like Gigi's Tavern. Mizner Park
is the venue of choice with some restaurants offering live music
and dancing. In less swanky Delray Beach the club scene is a little
livelier, with Boston's a long standing favourite, often with live
music.

Boca Raton Resort and Club offers so many sport and leisure
activities for its guests that few have the time or inclination to
venture out of the resort itself. The holiday resort of Boca Raton
has its own private beach offering a wide variety of watersports.
The city's two miles (3km) of public beaches, however, are equally
magnificent and well equipped. The quietest and prettiest beach is
South Beach, half a mile long, and backed by the scenic South Beach
Park. Families enjoy the action on the Delray municipal beach,
popular for surfing, windsurfing, volleyball and boating and
equipped with restrooms, lifeguards and adjacent restaurants. There
are a few attractions in the area worth making excursions for,
especially the Gumbo Limbo Environmental Complex. Keen shoppers
should visit Palm Beach to explore Worth Avenue. The many
attractions of Fort Lauderdale and Miami are also within day-trip
distance.